Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 7/10 [5] |
Entertainment Weekly | D [6] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Select | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
PopMatters | 6/10 [9] |
Record Collector | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Empire is the fourth full-length studio album by the American heavy metal band Queensrÿche,released on August 20,1990. The album is Queensrÿche's most commercially successful release,reaching triple-platinum status. [11] The primary single,the power ballad "Silent Lucidity",reached number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. [12] "Silent Lucidity" was also nominated in 1992 for the Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. [13] The album won a 1991 Northwest Area Music Award for Best Metal Recording. [14]
Empire has received generally positive reviews from critics since its release.
AllMusic praised the album,selecting the songs "Jet City Woman","Empire",and "Silent Lucidity" as the album's best tracks. The review stated that the band went for "a song-oriented approach that is more art rock and less metal" with lyrics that talk about social and physical handicaps in "Best I Can" and issues such as poverty and regret in "Della Brown" and romance with "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" and "Hand On Heart". The reviewer concluded by praising the band's mature sound and the work of producer Peter Collins. [4]
Record Collector gave the 20th anniversary edition of the album a generally positive review. The reviewer called the album a "very pleasant,but only intermittently gripping" listen,identifying the songs "Best I Can","Silent Lucidity",and "Jet City Woman" as some of the band's best material. Comparing Empire to the band's earlier albums, The Warning and Rage for Order ,the reviewer wrote that it is "a little boring". The reviewer concluded by calling the live CD accompanying the re-issue "flawless",making it a "worthwhile reissue". [10] PopMatters reviewer Adrien Begrand also reviewed the album's 20th anniversary release. Begrand called the album an "enigma" that's "beautifully produced and features some of the band's quintessential songs,but at the same time it's a rather bloated,conceptually scattershot piece of work containing filler that honestly has not aged very well". Begrand praised the songs "Empire","Another Rainy Night",and "Silent Lucidity",calling them the album's best tracks,favorably comparing "Silent Lucidity" to Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb",which also includes orchestra arrangements from Michael Kamen. Begrand had a mixed reaction to the live CD and referred to the cover of "Scarborough Fair" as being "abysmal". [9]
Jim Farber of Entertainment Weekly was highly critical of the album. He criticized both the album's progressive metal riffs,calling them "tuneless bombast",and the dire nature of the lyrics. Farber concluded his review by calling the band members "relentless killjoys". [6]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Best I Can" | Chris DeGarmo | 5:30 |
2. | "The Thin Line" | DeGarmo, Geoff Tate, Michael Wilton | 5:42 |
3. | "Jet City Woman" | DeGarmo, Tate | 5:20 |
4. | "Della Brown" | DeGarmo, Scott Rockenfield, Tate | 7:04 |
5. | "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" | DeGarmo, Eddie Jackson, Tate | 4:44 |
6. | "Empire" | Tate, Wilton | 5:07 |
7. | "Resistance" | Tate, Wilton | 4:47 |
8. | "Silent Lucidity" | DeGarmo | 5:45 |
9. | "Hand on Heart" | DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton | 5:30 |
10. | "One and Only" | DeGarmo, Wilton | 5:52 |
11. | "Anybody Listening?" | DeGarmo, Tate | 7:40 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
12. | "Last Time in Paris" | DeGarmo, Tate | 3:51 |
13. | "Scarborough Fair" (produced by Queensrÿche and Neil Kernon, recorded in 1986 [15] ) | Traditional | 3:51 |
14. | "Dirty Lil Secret" | DeGarmo, Tate | 4:07 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Resistance" | 4:33 | |
2. | "Walk in the Shadows" | DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton | 3:56 |
3. | "Best I Can" | 5:16 | |
4. | "Empire" | 5:11 | |
5. | "The Thin Line" | 5:43 | |
6. | "Jet City Woman" | 5:30 | |
7. | "Roads to Madness" | DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton | 9:32 |
8. | "Silent Lucidity" | 5:43 | |
9. | "Hand on Heart" | 5:17 | |
10. | "Take Hold of the Flame" | DeGarmo, Tate | 5:10 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [32] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [33] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [34] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Undisputed Attitude is the seventh studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on May 28, 1996, by American Recordings. The album consists almost entirely of covers of punk rock and hardcore punk songs, and also includes two tracks written by guitarist Jeff Hanneman in 1984 and 1985 for a side project called Pap Smear; its closing track, "Gemini", is the only original track. The cover songs on the album were originally recorded by the bands the Stooges, Minor Threat, T.S.O.L., D.R.I., D.I., Dr. Know, and Verbal Abuse, whose work was prominently featured with the inclusion of cover versions of three of their songs.
Turbo is the tenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in the UK on 7 April 1986 by Columbia Records. The album is notable for the band's change to a commercial glam metal sound, that had them using synthesizers for the first time.
Under the Blade is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Twisted Sister, released on Secret Records in September 1982. It was produced by UFO/Waysted bassist Pete Way and featured an aggressive and hard-hitting sound, which was eventually ignored on a remixed re-release by Atlantic Records on June 13, 1985. The re-release also added a remixed version of the song "I'll Never Grow Up, Now!", the band's long-forgotten 1979 single. The Atlantic Records release was both an attempt to cash in on the commercial success of Stay Hungry and, by then, the only official way to get the album as Secret Records was no more. However, bootlegs with the original mix were still in circulation. On May 31, 2016, Eagle Records re-released Under the Blade in a digital remastered form with the original mix finally restored, which it would be re-released under Rhino Entertainment through streaming services. Under the Blade has sold over two million copies worldwide.
Ram It Down is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 13 May 1988 by Columbia Records. It was the band's last album to feature longtime drummer Dave Holland, and was promoted in Europe and North America with the Mercenaries of Metal Tour.
Hear in the Now Frontier is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Queensrÿche, released in 1997. It was partly recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle, the home studio of Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, and was engineered and mixed by Toby Wright, who had recently worked with Alice in Chains.
Rapture of the Deep is the 18th studio album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in Europe on 24 October 2005, and in the US on 1 November 2005. It is the fourth studio album from Deep Purple since Steve Morse joined the band in 1994 and the second to feature veteran keyboardist Don Airey. The album was produced by Mike Bradford who also produced the band's previous release, Bananas.
The Warning is the first studio album by American heavy metal band Queensrÿche, released on September 7, 1984, and reissued on May 6, 2003, with three bonus tracks.
Operation: Mindcrime II is the ninth studio album by the American progressive metal band Queensrÿche, released internationally on March 31, 2006, and in the United States on April 4, 2006. It was the band's first album to be produced by Jason Slater.
Promised Land is the fifth studio album by the American heavy metal band Queensrÿche and their highest charting record to date. It was released by EMI on October 18, 1994, four years after their successful Empire album. The album was re-released on June 10, 2003, in a remastered edition with bonus tracks.
Crazy World is the eleventh studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released on 6 November 1990. The album peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 chart for albums in 1991. That same year, the song "Wind of Change" reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Send Me an Angel" reached No. 44 on the same chart. It also has the only Scorpions track to credit bassist Francis Buchholz as a writer, "Kicks After Six". This album was the band's first album in a decade and a half to not be produced by Dieter Dierks.
Q2K is the seventh studio album by heavy metal band Queensrÿche, released on 14 September 1999. It was the only Queensrÿche studio album to feature guitarist Kelly Gray as an official member, who, in the early 1980s, was in a band called Myth with vocalist Geoff Tate. "Breakdown" was released as the first single off Q2K. "The Right Side of My Mind" was released as the band's first music video since the album Promised Land and has had occasional airplay on VH1 Classic, which also premiered it in a special co-hosted by Geoff Tate.
Saturday Night Wrist is the fifth studio album by the American alternative metal band Deftones, released on October 31, 2006, by Maverick Records. Despite early contributions that were later scrapped, it marked the departure of Terry Date, who had produced the band's first four albums. It was also the last Deftones album with bassist Chi Cheng, as well as the last album of his career and his lifetime, prior to being involved in a serious car accident in 2008, which put him in a coma. He eventually died five years later from cardiac arrest.
"Silent Lucidity" is a power ballad by the band Queensrÿche from the 1990 album Empire. The song, which was composed by lead guitarist Chris DeGarmo, was the biggest hit for the band, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. "Silent Lucidity" was also nominated in 1992 for the Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
Live Evolution is the title of a 2001 live album and a DVD released by the American progressive metal band Queensrÿche. It was recorded over two nights at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, Washington. On the CD the tracks were collected in suites, which represent different moments of the band production and include a large section of the concept album Operation: Mindcrime. The DVD contains footage shot at the same concerts and features less songs listed in the order they were played during the shows.
The Heart of Everything is the fourth studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, released by GUN Records on 12 March 2007 in Europe. It was released in North America on 18 June 2007 by Roadrunner Records. The album follows the symphonic metal sound the band had been improving and deepening until then, and is considered by lead vocalist Sharon den Adel as the album in which the band finally managed to achieve this kind of sound.
Runnin' Wild is the debut album by the Australian hard rock band Airbourne. It was released on 23 June 2007 via EMI and debuted on the Australian ARIA album chart at number 21. It debuted at number 62 on the UK album chart. It was released in the United States on 29 January 2008 through Roadrunner Records and debuted at number 106 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Sign of the Times is a compilation album by Seattle-based progressive metal band Queensrÿche. It contains a selection of their most notable songs and was released on August 28, 2007. A special collector's edition was also released, including a bonus disc of rarities, live recordings and a previously unreleased song.
A Sense of Purpose is the ninth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, first released in Japan on 26 March 2008. It was released on 1 April and 4 April 2008 in North America and Europe respectively. A Sense of Purpose is the final In Flames album with founding guitarist Jesper Strömblad, at this point the last original member, as he quit in February 2010. Ending the lineup that had stayed together since Colony. The album debuted at number 1 on the official Swedish album chart. On 21 May 2009, the song "Disconnected" became an available to download for the video game Guitar Hero World Tour.
"Empire" is a song by the heavy metal band Queensrÿche, appearing on their 1990 album Empire. The lyrical content of the song warns of a foreboding and unstoppable "Empire" of drug trafficking within the United States and its related crimes, that will inevitably lead to the breakdown of civility in American society.
"Jet City Woman" is a song by heavy metal band Queensrÿche. First appearing on their 1990 album Empire, it was released as a single in May 1991 in the US, and August 1991 in Europe.
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